Okay, WOW. This was awesome. I loved the fact that the "actions have consequences" tied in with the story - your embellishments to the tales make next year's journey more perilous. The statues give a great lore aspect too - I really felt the situation getting less innocent each playthrough.
I didn't quite make it to the spooky part that you mentioned. Unfortunately, once you lose mouse focus it won't focus again! Not sure if that's a bug on my machine or with the game itself, but it meant that I couldn't get the screen to re-grab the mouse so couldn't look around. I'll try and make it to year 3 next time!
Amazing concept and great work!!